There are tons of resources to book flights or find a place to stay. Organizing travel destination ideas, picking a trip location, planning with a partner or friend, figuring out where to go and what to see. These are still a struggle.
Users
Tech-savvy travel enthusiasts who need some assistance in organizing trip ideas and planning getaways.
Role
Design and research as a part of a self-led personal project.
Goal
Create a tool that encourages and assists travel enthusiasts to book the right trip at the right time.
Discovery
Survey
I set out to gather ideas and identify top pain points that a travel app could potentially solve by surveying a group of adults, ages 20-50.
Pain points identified: staying organized, collecting ideas, coordinating with others on plans, personal time off work, budgets.
Current technology employed: Google My Maps, Google Keep, Pinterest, Instagram.
Travelers who have 10 or more trip destination ideas
Travelers who store destination ideas by memory alone
Journey Map
After further identifying pain points and possible product solutions, I created a current state user journey map to visualize the process a potential customer goes through while planning a trip. This helped create hierarchy in the functionality of key features within the app.
Aesthetic Inspiration
Because I was building a brand as a part of this project, the visual design aspect of the end-product was important assess. But how do you represent travel without showing a specific destination or culture? What is a common denominator?
I began a collection of tangible objects that represent travel, even as we move more into a paper-less world—tickets, key chains, and brochures.
Design
Building a Brand
Traveling is about going someplace new but it can also feel like moving forward or backward in time, depending on the destination. The branding utilizes both old and new elements to represent these possibilities, with a nod to the ephemera collected on your travels.
A ticket that isn’t trying to be anything other than a functional indication of your designated seat becomes branding for the experience of riding the train. A throwaway bag tag that identifies your possessions is a keepsake for your unique adventure.
High Fidelity Wireframes
The functionality of the app is designed for multiple travel styles which were discovered during the research phase.
Some people preferred to travel with a group of friends and some preferred solo trips. Some people may only save countries they wish to visit while others may plan detailed travel itineraries.
The goal is to allow users to work with restraints of timing, budget, and organization to encourage more travel.
Splash Screen + Walk-Thru
Intro + Adding a Place
Messaging a Connection
Filtering Places
Testing the Prototype
I tested the 4 user flows with potential users to get feedback and understand where I should focus on improvement.
I learned what people were most excited about after the walk-thru, how different people might use the app in completely different ways, and that I should focus on adding better instructions for new users, perhaps with a feature like tooltips.
